A Simple Contradiction
by bornXaXrebel
Summary: The story through Itachi's eyes about the girl who should have died, Sasuke and those involved with them. Itachi X OC, rating might change due to later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Undo His Damage

_No one speaks of the days where it began. If anyone says anything about any beginning they would take about the short hair and sitting in front of the parents. These things are too painful to be remembered. How could anyone, people only lose themselves in the darkness of the past and make it their guide. So no one speaks about it. Very few even have the courage to look forward. It's been fear that holds people back like this. Fear and hate what drives people to make stupid mistakes. And it always has been fear and hate that alter the clarity of your path. Kaeda, her heart pounding with fear, stood before her parents in a closed room. Behind the doors she could hear who would become her little sibling breathing, not sharing the same anxiety as her. The hate behind the doors could be sensed from a mile away. But it wasn't the thought of having new family, it was the thought of siblings which sparked red hot hate into the atmosphere. The young girl looked up, her hair freshly cut. Her dark brown eyes looked at her own father. This part is the fear, defying against someone who you could have never dreamed to do so before and the thought that this could alter your world entirely._

_A stern voice spoke, every human being recognizes a voice such as this. This is the pressure of doing well, and being unable to hand over gratification for someone else. It's a father figure or the father himself, or this is how we always perceive them as. Ha, you and I know a lot about pressuring father's don't we? We were never good enough; we always need to strive higher than their expectations. They both also had that one dotting line, which stuck in your head. It was those few words that express their upmost satisfaction and in a way pressuring you to go on. "Repeat what you just said." Kaeda shivered. "Repeat what you just said and know that this will cause you to be disowned from the family." When did this happen for us? When did we become the most renowned in our families to the outcasts, the criminals and the black sheep? I suppose neither you nor I will ever know why this fate was written out for the two of us._

_Open people can never hide the physical or emotional signs of their feelings. You are the perfect example of that. Kaeda, your hands are frozen and the sensation that something is stuck in your throat. So much worry, because you know that outcome. You always have known. You never stopped despite knowing the consequences. Thank you. "I-I want to take in my partner's younger brother." She whispered. Her voice was dripping with softness and fear. She looked back for a moment, back into the past and into the darkness that awaited her. Strange, even if she shared the same feels as the child behind the door she could never fully relate to the pain back to his. The dark brown hair fell into her face as her bangs attempted to create a wall between her and her father's raising fury. She knew that if her father would end her if he wished. But despite the treachery she was committing, Kaeda, you held your head high didn't you. It was for him and for me. "Please, sir! He doesn't have anyone, I can't leave him alone, he's young and how could I do that to _his_ brother?"_

"_Silence!" Her father barked, scaring both Kaeda and her mother. Her father stood and Kaeda only felt like she was shrinking under the pressure. How strong authority could be. A single person could never fight against authority and even if it is a large number the lives lost is not worth it. Nothing is ever worth the pain, sorrow and death conflict brings onto people. Our generation knows that best. We know the bitter reality of conflict though some embrace it more than others. Some understand the gravity of such situation more than others. Conflict… is not worth it. Never was. Which is why I always avoided it, I hated violence. I hated conflict. I bowed down to authority and praised peace. What else could I have done? I am one man, surely you must understand that. "You care more about someone else's family more than your own?" He finished his sudden rage._

_But you did care; you always cared so much more for us. It baffles me. At the brink of war, end and destruction and you cared for us. Ha, you had the chance to go home pretend like it didn't happen, turn a blind eye but you didn't. Here you are fighting for me. You are fighting for him. Kaeda, why would you? Of course, I know the answer. I always knew. I just never expected it to be of that magnitude. Kaeda lifted her head, their eyes locking. With all the courage she could muster she opened her mouth and spoke, "For this man, yes." I always smiled thinking about Kaeda's courage. If it could be ripped out of her and it would still fight back. Her courage was so pure and strong even on its own. It took a stance no matter what the odds were. Kaeda, strong little Kaeda. You'll never change. Neither will he. Neither will I._

Years had flown by since that day. There was no need for such thoughts anymore and no one was left to make them anyway. The man who stood beside them and thought like this for them was long gone. Those days were long gone. The only place where something like that could be recalled was in a dream. To those awake they cried for the opposite. They begged to be placed back into the dream, into the false reality, rather than face what was accepted and true, because that was the true nightmare. Kaeda opened her eyes and the sound of the fire alarm greeted her ears, remind her of the pulsing alarm brought by the heat of battle. She had been certain she had forgotten an emotion like that, but she hadn't. Many soldiers can't readapt to the normal society after being traumatized by war.

The sun had barely risen and her home was already in disarray. Of course… could she be expecting anything less? A brand new day but nothing has changed. There is still that loaming negativity that she hated. That everyone hated. Who could like being in their home, their sanctuary, and not feeling as safe as they would in another environment? With her long slender legs, she swung them over the bed and forced herself to sit up. Her frame stood up perfectly straight. Just from her stature one could assume, she had gone through vigorous training and was powerful. But at the same time there was also the aura that showed a sudden slow or halt to this power, the need for it had disappeared over the years. This young girl calmly worked a knot out of her medium length hair with her hands.

Her hands weren't that of a young person, especially of a young girl. The knuckles had been worked well in; the skin above it had been scared and very smoothed out. The skin on the side of her nails had been bitten down and picked at. Anyone that was a psychologist could tell you she had been in the early stages of an anxiety disorder. Yet, as she stood and made her way into the kitchen, still in her pajamas, she knew the stress she had been experiencing could not been good for her health. After seeing the young teen standing in the kitchen, trying to put out a small fire, she knew exactly where the source of all the stress was.

In sudden realization that the older woman was in there already the boy stared at her for a moment as the picked up the fire extinguisher they had placed near the door for this sort of case. "Move." She told his and he indeed stepped aside for the time being, watching her with his onyx eyes. In a flash, the white gas flooded the room the fire going out. She placed the fire extinguisher on the ground, a thud echoed in the room because of their silence. A moment had to pause before Kaeda could speak to the boy before her. "What were you doing?" She asked, looking at the destroyed food. She could tell it was some sort of meat, perhaps rice was also in there. The young girl wanted to smile at the attempt but Kaeda refrained. It would be disrespectful and discouraging.

The dark eyed boy answered her, "Making breakfast." He said. For a flash she could see the past. He was the young child standing in front of the sliding doors of the wooden house with the bright sun beating down on him almost complimenting his bright smile. The days were everything was bright and happy unlike the days now, where everything is bleak and looked dark for them.

"And for what reason, Sasuke?" Kaeda asked turning towards him. He was fully dressed the young 12 year old, with raven locks, and his facial expression said it all for him instead of having to use the energy to say it. It caused Kaeda to giggle. "Oh, early training?" She asked. He nodded. With a heavy sigh, Kaeda went to the refrigerator. "So I am assuming you want some protein huh?" She shuffled through looking at the found they had. She put out some egg carton, cheese and milk. "Let me make you an omelet." She suggested calmly.

The raven hair boy looked away. "I think I'm ok."

A bittersweet smile shined on her face. Pained and yet kind. "Sasuke, please sit down, you have two hours until you have to go to the academy. If you want to go train go ahead, but eat something first." He sat down heavily. He felt trapped, yet he had all the freedom to just walk out on the girl taking care of him. He picked at the edge of his navy blue shirt. "Are you anxious about exams?" She asked, calmly, taking out a bowl and cracking the eggs into the bowl.

He voiced a soft scoff, his eyes making no effort to look up to her. "You know I'm not."

With a heavy sigh she replied, "Then, may I ask what's bothering you?" She put in the grated cheese and added a little bit of milk into the mixture. She reached into one of the drawers and took out a fork and began to beat the eggs.

"Nothing." _Liar._ She placed the mix into a pan. "Why are you still making my breakfast?" Sasuke placed both his hands on his knees and applied pressure to remind him of reality, his white shorts wrinkling in the process. He was not dreaming, not today. Here he was in an apartment with a woman about 5 years older, cooking him breakfast so he could get protein for his morning training.

She grabbed a wooden spoon that was near the oven top. "Because I am your guardian." She said, in a happy voice. Sasuke looked away. "Don't act like that. You are lucky someone was there for you."

Suddenly, an inner desire woke within Sasuke and he wanted to break something. "I can manage fine on my own." His statement much resembled a child's. Only 12 years old, Sasuke could make the deduction that he could cook eggs on his own and do the things he needed to do on his own. He wasn't a child, he couldn't be. The eggs cooked quickly and the smell fanned out across the room. The delectable scent of a hearty breakfast was amazing. It was a stubble reminder of where home was at the moment. Home was the place where even if someone couldn't manage on their own they could always fall back to. Kaeda got a plate and slid them onto it. She sprinkled salt and pepper over top to spice up the flavor and got him a cup of orange juice. "Thanks." He grunted, but it was enough gratitude for Kaeda. She ruffled his hair a bit before going back into her room. She showered and got changed before going back to the kitchen.

The young girl came back out of her room after getting ready. Her hair in a low bun and was decorated by a bright, polished silver pin with a bright white daisy, which was placed in the side of the bun. Kaeda wore a white v-neck shirt and light brown skirt, underneath black shorts, and black boats that went until her knees. She stretched getting the blood pumping to her legs. She began walked towards the door and stopped half way. Her lips slightly parted in wonder and she leaned against the wall. Sasuke was standing a few feet away putting on his shoes. His raven hair was perfect as always, with such minimal effort. The navy shirt and the white pants brought some light color to his overall dark eyes and hair. Kaeda smiled at him. He was so young; she could barely recall what she looked like during that age. Youth can always be appreciated at moments like these, when there is a need for time to stand still and just capture the moment as it is.

Sensing her behind him, he turned his head. "What?" He asked, skyrocketing her out of her soft trail of thought.

Kaeda turned a soft pink, close to the shade on her natural lips. She stumbled over for words. "I-uh… um." She stopped herself and recollected herself. "I was just thinking about how much stronger you are going to get. A lot stronger." She said, quietly.

Sasuke turned red for a moment before pulling over his emotionless mask once more. "Uh, yeah, thanks." He muttered. "I'm going to go." Kaeda nodded in agreeing. "Later." He said and left the apartment, leaving her behind alone to her thoughts.

She stared at the door where he went out of. Kaeda allowed a soft laugh to escape her lips. "Silly, Uchihas." She said looking out towards the window. The early morning phased into noon as the day became brighter and the light cascaded down onto the village of Konaha during the mid-day. Academy students had found themselves either loving or hating their teams. But the time of day allowed them to go home, grab a lunch and possibly bond with their team. Except, Sasuke isn't social, Sakura is only interested in Sasuke and Naruto is only interested in Sakura.

_Bonding was out of the question._

Naturally, he went home and relaxed. His hair no longer in a perfect condition, it was to be expected, he was told he was in a group with an idiot. Some hairs were sticking out of place and if he wasn't so young, dark circles would have been more pronounced onto his face. The stress hormones pulsing through Sasuke's veins were incredible. He couldn't believe his rotten luck. Of all the people, he had to be with someone who was a complete idiot. Sasuke showed his annoyance by dragging his feet on the floor to the kitchen.

The empty apartment was silent and he was the only source of noise. He got to the white refrigerator and opened it up. He saw a small container with a piece of paper taped onto it. He bent it so he could read it and saw his name written in Kaeda's handwriting. He contemplated not eating it, but then he would have to do the cooking and get everything prepared and then clean it up. He wanted to eat and then go train quickly. Plus… from that morning, he was in higher spirits about his relationship with his guardian. He pulled the teal container out and placed it on the table.

Sasuke smirked a bit. Kaeda had pulled all the right moves today. She had called him strong and he would get stronger, gave him his space, and she had made him his favorite food for lunch. Sasuke admitted to there being a small bright side to the negative day. He took the container, grabbed a drink and opened the window, wanting some fresh air. The wind blew into the apartment renewing his energy a little. His hair back to normal and his skin seemed bright with his youth once more. He placed the container beside him and took one rice ball.

He took a bite; his favorite filling for the rice balls was used too. The smoked tuna tasted fresh and delicious. This was a real moment of peace. There was no pressure and no obligations and no one to restrain him from being as calm as he wanted to be. From Sasuke's usual uptight behavior he could take a moment to unwind which was so unlike him. He sighed and began to eat listening to the birds chirp. Sasuke allowed the blazing sun to bathe his pale skin. He watched the people go bye and yet admired how silent the village was. The crowded village was always quiet. _It's because you don't listen. Ever since that night, you never listened, Sasuke._

Little did Sasuke know, Naruto, his little idiot friend, was behind him plotting and sneaking behind him. Sasuke set his food to the side. Naruto jumped in, tackling Sasuke down. The window of the room closed. They wrestled for a moment on the floor. "Jerk, its Naruto, isn't it?" Sasuke shouted startled by what was happening.

Naruto fought back with all his strength. "Darn! Just be quiet." The blonde boy hissed to the raven haired boy before they continued their fight.

Sasuke easily overcame Naruto and tied him up, unfortunately he did not notice it was a substitution before it was too late and the Naruto before him turned into a log. Sasuke's face completely turned into one of awe. How could he possibly make such a mistake? His eyes opened wide as he looked at the log before him and knew he had made a fatal mistake. He suddenly sensed chakra from Naruto coming from all different directions. "What?" He muttered, shocked.

"Gotcha!" Naruto and the clones shouted. Sasuke could only stare at the boy, who he once thought could not do a clone jutsu properly, make so many clones and attack him at once. Sasuke found himself laying on the ground tied up and his mouth covered. He began to struggle and to squirm. After a good five minutes he finally freed himself. Sasuke got up, he was not going to let his go unpunished for the idiot boy. He stormed out of his apartment tracing his chakra to the location of where Sakura was.

Unknown to Sasuke, Naruto had transformed into Sasuke and decided to flirt with Sakura. As she started talking, it sounded like buzzing for Sasuke. "Oh Sasuke, you're such a shy bad boy!" Her shrill voice was enough to tune her out without much thought or care for her words. "Are you prepared? I'm raring to go!" Sasuke could not have cared less for the pink haired girl's insane blabbering. He walked past her nonchalantly. Sakura turned so she was facing him the whole way but without moving from her place. "H-Hey, Sasuke!" She shouted.

He finally acknowledged her. "Where's Naruto?" He demanded, not caring for her.

Sakura looked like she was faking happiness. "Oh, there you go changing the subject again…" She said with a strained cheerful voice. "Just leave Naruto alone! All he does is pick fights with you! It's because he wasn't raised right! You know! He doesn't have any parents, right?" That caught the attention of Sasuke, but from here on in it would just put Sakura on the lowest level for Sasuke. She would become the scum beneath his shoe. Sakura, who desperately and hopelessly tries to impress him made all the wrong moves. "He always selfishly does whatever he wants! My parents would get mad at me if I did something like that!" His gaze turned into a harsh glare which went unnoticed by the hyperactive girl. "There are no parents to nag you if it's just you alone! So his selfishness comes out at various times!"

Sasuke turned his gaze away from her, too angered to even look at her. "The loneliness," he began taking her attention, "It's something worse than getting scolded by parents and…"

Sakura interrupted him noticing she had stepped on a wound. "W-What's gotten into you…?" She asked, softly and weakly, scared to death.

Sasuke turned around and looked right into her eyes. With no hint of remorse, he bluntly stated, "You annoy me." He began to walk away again, tracking Naruto, leaving a shocked Sakura behind him. He continued walking not caring about a girl like her. Even if she was on his team now, people like her were the most horrible people in his opinion, the people who did not care about other's emotions. These people are the people that treat others with the most cruelty and the least mercy. He had no idea how he would tolerate her on missions and other things. He sighed and pushed it to the back of his head.

After a while, Sasuke found himself wondering to a large apartment building. He walked down an open hallway and saw Naruto running towards him, out of the apartment building. He could not have felt better in that moment. Revenge was going to be sweet. Also the shocked look on Sasuke's face was priceless. The blonde halted and slid to a stop in front of Sasuke. "W-What are you doing here?" He shouted loudly, his body ready for some action, any kind of action. He was scared out of his wits as the student with the highest grades in his class stood before him.

Sasuke lifted his head a bit, a smug smirk on his face. "I used the Escape Jutsu, the very basic of techniques." He said. Naruto suddenly felt stupider than he knew he was. "What were you planning to do by transforming into me?" Sasuke's face had transformed from a confused face into an angry one.

Naruto gave his answer quickly, wasting no time. "I thought it'd be fun, so I gave it a try!" He took a jump back and made a few shadow clones. They all jumped into the air and went to come down onto Sasuke for an attack.

Sasuke took a step back, his hands still in his pockets. "The Shadow Clone Jutsu again?" He asked seeming a bit annoyed.

"I'll show you that I'm really amazing! I'll defeat you and make you accept me! Prepare yourself, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted getting ready to attack but the second his stomach rumbled painfully. All the clones stopped their attack. "Just like that, my stomach again…" Naruto said as him and the clones all curled over themselves and wrapped their arms around their stomachs in pain. "B-Bathroom!" They shouted in pain, only leaving behind a very confused Sasuke. They began fighting over which one would get to go to the bathroom first.

Sasuke simply turned around, "How stupid…" He muttered, in a whisper.

Over at the hokage's office, Kaeda placed a scroll on the Hokage's desk. The old man with a lightly wrinkled face and a pipe in his mouth let the smoke blow out. "Very good, Kaeda, good job." Kaeda bowed her head softly. She turned on her heal ready to dismiss herself before the hokage spoke again. "By the way, Kaeda, jounin were assigned to the gennin." Kaeda looked with bewilderment. "Sasuke's sensei will be Kakashi."

Suddenly all the color vanished from her face. "P-Pardon me for a moment." She said and stepped outside the office quickly, closing the door behind her. The hokage looked very confused towards the door, his pipe in hand. His white hair nearly stood when he heard the painful sound of something banging against the wall parallel to the door. Kaeda stepped back in a moment later, a large red mark on her forehead. "That is splendid, sir. I am glad Sasuke will have the opportunity to be taught by such a revered shinobi." She said, forcing the words out.

The old man chuckled softly. "Watch over Sasuke."

Kaeda was grinding her teeth against each other at that point. "Yes sir…"

Author Note:

This is a remake of one of my old stories, very old story. Whenever there will be italic font, it is the same person talking throughout. It isn't the thoughts of one person here and the other person there. Whenever there is italics it is will be the same person from here in chapter one to chapter 39723497 (jk) but you get the point. Enjoy. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: This Faceless Crowd

_God, I wanted to stop, I wanted to stop, I needed to stop. I was killing her, killing her with my own hands. Even in the darkness, I could see her face was turning different colors; blue was slowly seeping into those colors. Her feet dangled as they tried to reach the ground. I wanted to say it; I wanted to say stop struggling, stop struggling and pretend to dead. "Ita-", her voice started as a soft murmur but instinctively I have a quick jolt upwards "Ah!" She screamed, barely breathing and in pain. Her neck was bruised and her whole body was in pain._

_When I could tell she was slipping into her unconsciousness, I set her down on her feet. I pulled her close, my lips pressed against the shell of her ear the only thing that got in between us was her long brown hair. "Stay away from me, away from Sasuke and from this clan." I whispered. I couldn't find myself able to look at her face, nor let up the pressure on her neck. In a lower voice, I couldn't help myself. "Take care of yourself." After that she fell limp into my arms, the unconscious body fell into me. The hand once wrapped around her neck was now in her hair cradling her head and pushing her body away but then wrapped that arm around her waist. Her hair was so long that some of it got trapped under my arm._

_I set her down and looked at the damage done. I saw all the blood and the destruction. I hate violence, I hate war, I hate this… for this single moment I hated myself more than anything else. And in the midst of all these, there laid the two people I could never harm, no matter what. They are my angels and my heavens. I took a step back into an expected hand. "Good job." The man, I wish I had never met, told me. My eyes were glued on the bruise on the girl's neck and the large scratch on the boys shoulder. What have I done? I wish I could turn back time stop this all, make everything better. Almost a vision of the three of us, flashed before my eyes and disappeared into the darkness all together, such things could have never happened. Not in this lifetime. _

_I bobbed my head complying with this man's compliment. "Yeah, we should go before authorities come." I whispered and was nearly shocked on at my own voice. It had turned cold, heavy and bitter. I sounded so much older than I was and I was sure I now looked so much older than I was. I had taken life, life of people that were blood relatives. I began walking out of my home, the dead silence was so irritating, and it would haunt me more than anything else for that night. I looked at the exit; I knew I would never return. I'd never again feel the warmth and safety of a home and I had no one to blame but myself. _

_But what hurt me most was that I had ruined home for one other person. I had ruined it for my brother. I ruined my brother's family. He couldn't come home laughing and joyous ever again. He could never have such things ever again. Until he came for me and had his own family, he could never have such things again. But I was wrong. I would have never known that one day; I would see him with a family member. He could have emotions that resembled happiness and I was not there to witness it. I could not be there to stop it or to praise it. _

_The shocking thing about this was that it was her that attempt to fill his life with happiness. She isolated herself, all to keep this boy happy. Could I have meant that much to people? I didn't want to believe it, nor could I have accepted it. Not for what was meant to happen I could not. She did not heed my warning and did exactly as I had warned her not to. She had taken the child, took him in, raised him as best she could. She did it so he would not be alone. She hadn't changed. _

_Kaeda hadn't changed, she was still the supportive girl and strong willed person that I remembered her to be. But that was a lie, a false mask she was portraying. I knew that she had been broken and bent just as badly as Sasuke. But Kaeda did want to create something. She wanted to create a constant for him. Kaeda became a person that wouldn't change being someone important for him, a parent and a confidant. She had done a very good job at it too. When it would be time for our reunion something would have to be done for this. Another rip and tear between this makeshift family. I didn't want to. How could I? Things needed to be done and none of us have the time for blocks. Kaeda, you are one of them. But I can't kill you. What could I possibly do? If we both cling onto the same hope and are held so highly by the same person… how could I hurt you? What could I do to you to remove you? I can't… you are too important of a person to ever be removed in such a cruel manner. _

The months had passed since then, the first C mission had come and gone and the Chuunin exams passed and thankfully most of the village had been restored back to how it was. The attack by the Sand village and the Sound village had indeed left a remarkable scar on the village and especially with the Third Hokage dead. It had left the village mornings in a horrible mist that whoever attempted to enter could barely see two feet in front of them, but this included the guards. Because the village was under no ruler at the time, security had been vamped up, taking many precautions until a new Hokage was put into power.

A middle-aged man was placed in guarding an entrance to the village that was rarely used and not many people knew about. Only the shinobi and ANBU were really informed that this gate even existed. The morning mist was unusually thick and because the morning sun hadn't yet graced the sky no one could really have that much visibility. The guard heard a bell. Confusion flushed in his body. Who would be carrying around a bell? In such a dangerous world having yourself clearly standing out with the sound of a bell was foolish.

After a while two cloaked figures appeared in the distance, as they approached the bell sound was more clear and approaching. Without showing any id, greeting or even looking at the man. He felt a bit alarmed by this and tried to stop them. "Huh? Uh… Excuse me…" He said taking their attention before they entered.

The men stopped just before entering. The shorter of the two men turned towards the man. The guard attempted to see under his hat. A sudden and heavy blanket seemed to wash over him, trying to lull him into a deep sleep. The moment of resistance was absolutely futile, as the man immediately fell backwards and drifted into sleep letting the foreigners in the village undetected and in silence. The only thing that showed their presence was the sound of their bells.

Kaeda stood in her room shuffling through some of her things in her closet. Her hair was not done, so it was flowing just a little bit past her shoulders. The box she had set high up fell as she tried to reach a medical kit she had. She stepped back and heard a cracking sound. She bent down and pulled the box up. She opened it and saw what had cracked, her old ANBU mask. She picked it up and stood up. Without much thought about what damage she was going to do to herself and her mental health, she stepped in front of her mirror and placed the mask in front of her face. A flush of memories she never wanted to recall again flooded her head. The sound of laughter, a strong arm grasping hers, a soft smile, the most perfect eyes she had ever seen and the feeling of safety all flooded back and then the feeling of all that being ripped away. Instinctively, she threw the mask away from her but as a result her mirror shattered before her.

The brunet stood watching her reflection in the shattered mirror. Sasuke from hearing the noise rushed in and watched Kaeda trying to catch her breath and her brown eyes wide in horror. Sasuke tilted his head, curiously. He was fully dressed from head to toe in black. He knew he should have left and let her deal with it alone. He bit his lips as he thought about the options and he spoke before his thought process ended. "Kaeda." He said taking the girl's attention bringing her back to reality. No, he brought her back to the present. They stared at each other for a moment, the silence was not like the silence back on that day; it wasn't blood stopping. This silence was a reminder, this was the present and what had happened then was in the past.

After a few moments, she smiled. "Sorry about that." Sasuke nodded and went to the kitchen. He got himself some breakfast and Kaeda cleaned up the mirror and did her hair. Sasuke looked mad as he had the right to be. His head was buzzing with visions of failure that Orochimaru had pumped into his head from the Forest of Death. He wanted to get out of the house, he wanted to be alone. _When people are alone and most importantly alone with their thoughts, they are the most destructive, especially to themselves._ Sasuke took his plate of boiled eggs tomatoes and fried rice to the table. He ate alone in silence as he watched Kaeda come and go. He was already manifesting negative thoughts about how weak he was about how people around him where making him weak and how he hated feeling like this. His aura became darker than usual and the seal on around his new curse mark worked more vigorous as it tried to seal up the negative effects from it.

Once the plate was empty Sasuke knitted his fingers together and stared into empty space, Kaeda entered into the kitchen. She was twisting her hair into a low bun, the daisy pin in her mouth so she could secure her hair with it. "Stop wearing that thing." Sasuke snapped quietly. Kaeda turned her gaze to the onyx eyed boy. It was her turn to tilt her head in confusion. She took the pin out of her mouth and secured her hair in place. "Why are you still wearing that? Have you forgotten what he did?" He snapped ready to stand up.

Kaeda didn't budge at his words. "You know my opinion on that matter." She whispered and went to get her own breakfast.

"Are you blind?" He stood and made Kaeda freeze. "You know what he did; you know what happened for God's sake he nearly killed you! How could you say that he wasn't himself, he willing nearly killed both of us!"

"He didn't…"

"Kaeda!"

"Enough!" She shouted back. They both stared at each other again in silence. "I thought we said we would never talk about this subject… I'll stop wearing this tomorrow." Sasuke nodded. "Go on." Kaeda whispered, "I know the last thing you want is to be here with me." She continued in her soft voice. Sasuke stood and marched out of the apartment. He was fuming with anger and he would have never known that Kaeda only broke down crying after that.

Hours passed since their fight, both had tried to pretend like it didn't happen. Sasuke got signaled by Kakashi and was making his way to the white haired man. The bells of the foreigners still rang in the village. Kaeda was making her way towards the hospital to go heal some injured people who were rebuilding the village. Young Naruto was digging in his pockets for his ticket to get his breakfast with no avail. The Ichiraku man went back to work he heard the bells of his shop. He turned the entrance but saw no one, confusing him.

Outside a little tea shop, Kakashi Hatake was reading Make-Out Paradise. As the people around him hussled around trying to get things done, Kakashi maintained his cool aura. Nothing fazed the jounin. Or at least, it seemed like nothing fazed him. His nonchalant mannerism was an unforgettable on many scales. He was a person that was unreadable. Only a few traits of his were constant. If you did not know this person, your initial thought was that he was crazy. And in a sense, he was. Now the sensei for Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, it became his duty to always care for their protection and well being. That job he carried out flawlessly and of course did will to protect them.

His duty outside this little tea shop also had to do with the matter of Sasuke's and Naruto's protection. He saw Asuma and Kurenai, two very good friends coming towards him. He closed his little red book at glaced his uncovered eye at them. "Yo, you two!" He said, cheerfully. He stood up straight, no longer using the wall behind him as support. "You seem to be getting along well."

Kakshi's assumption made Kurenai blush. "Fool, Anko asked me to buy rice dumplings. That's all."

"What are you doing here?" Asuma asked, the usual cigarette in his mouth.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "While I'm here to buy offerings, I've made plans to meet here…" His lazy eye looked towards the men in the black clocks with red clouds. "with Sasuke." He finished, expecting a response. Though it was unseen one of the men's fingers twitched.

Asuma looked surprised. "Huh, it's rare that you wait for people. Is the offering to Obito?" He asked.

"Obito?" Kurenai asked in confusion.

"Well… that's about right." Kakashi answered. Inside the shop the man with the blue skin set his tea cup down.

Kakashi's gaze stayed locked with the two men in there. Sasuke approached Kakashi, "Kakashi, it's strange for you to be here first." He said.

"Well… once in a while." Kakashi tried to correct him even though his habit of being late was now out in the open. Sasuke tilted his head when he saw an empty table where the pair of men used to be. Two full and warm cups of tea were still at the able the sweets were still there as well.

Sasuke's gaze turned to Kakashi, assuming he wanted to sit there and talk. "I don't do natto and sweet things." He said, quickly to dismiss the idea.

"Oh… is that so?" Kakashi asked, sounding slightly disappointed. Kakashi turned to Kurenai and Asuma who nodded in understanding. The two disappeared before Kakashi and Sasuke's eyes going to track the two men. Sasuke understood from that something was wrong. Something he would not be permitted to know. A few miles away the two men were walking along one of the man made water ways that was near the forest within Konaha. They passed by a small fishing boat casually.

Both came to a halt when Kurenai and Asuma stopped before them. There was a strange silence between them and the two strange, foreign men. "You guys aren't from the village… Why in the world did you come?" Asuma asked getting straight to business.

Another moment of silence passed before one of the men spoke. It was the shorter of the two with pale skin and a fair voice. "I haven't seen you for a while, Asuma, Kurenai."

"If you know about us, are you former Leaf Shinobi?" Asuma asked. The man reached up and tilted his straw hat up a bit to reveal his right right eyes. The black tomoe was revealed with the chime of the bell on his hat. Both jounin were in shock at the sight. Neither wanted to believe such a man would even fathom of returning to the village, but there he was. Not wanting to believe it, they had to ask, "Y-You are?" He slowly began to remove his hat, without abrupt motions as to not cause panic for the enemies before him. He took his arm out of his sleeve and began to unbutton the top of his cloak. "Without a doubt…" He rested his hand at the opening of the cloak, lazily. "Itachi… Uchiha." The noticed the large slash on his forehead protector that crossed out the Leaf symbol.

While they stared at the young man they failed to notice the older man. The blue man spoke, "You are acquaintances of Itachi?" He asked. His voice was a bit higher pitched and freer than Itachi's strained voice was. "If so…" He took a hold of his hat as well. "I'll introduce myself as well." He took off his hat. "I'm Kisame Hoshigaki." Kisame's skin was blue even on his face. His teeth were ground sharp and resembled a shark, hell he looked exactly like a shark except he had legs not fins. "Hereafter, I hope to be familiar with you." He too had a large slash over his forehead protector, destroying his village's symbol as well, but he was still identifiable as a former shinobi of the Mist.

Asuma looked agitated at the two. "Never mind later, I'm going to beat you now!" He proclaimed.

"Itachi." Kisame said taking his attention. "It seems you're pretty unpopular in the village too." His smirk was cocky and Itachi could have rolled his eyes at the comment.

"I know you, too." Kurenai said, "Kisame Hoshigake, originally a shinobi of Hidden Village in the Mist. Suspected of national covert activities and of killing a feudal lord, a rogue ninja from Land of Water, on the wanted list in all nations."

"You're a major S-rank criminal listed in the Bingo Book." Asuma finished. "Itachi, you have some nerve coming back to this village after causing that awful incident."

"Asuma… Kurenai… Don't interfere with me." _I say that too much, to too many people._ "I don't intend to kill you."

"That's not a line for you who killed his comrades. I know there's no way you'd come here without any clear purpose in those suspicious appearance. What are you after?"

Itachi did not answer Asuma. He left him with silence as he gazed right at him. Kisame reached back and pulled his sword from his back letting it hit the ground with enough force the crack the path they were walking on. "This guy is pretty annoying." Kisame stated. "Should we kill him?"

No one flinched at this. "It doesn't look like we are able to leave the village so smoothly… But don't overdo it, your techniques tend to stand out." Itachi ordered, calmly.

"They're done for then." Kisame swung his sword over to his shoulder. Itachi tossed his hat to the side and Kisame went right in for the attack. The bell sounded once more as the hat hit the ground giving Kisame the go to attack Asuma. He brought his sword down to him with all his strength. Asuma dodged the bandage covered blade with ease. Kisame swung his sword back ready for another attack and brought the long sword crashing down again. Asuma grabbed his chakra blades and used them to stop the sword as it came towards him and Kurenai.

Kurenai found the opportunity to jump back and get ready to fight as well. Kisame would not allow such a thing, but before he could even attempt to stop her, Kurenai had already cast out a genjutsu. Itachi took interest casting his sharigan filled eyes onto the battle. _This is…Genjutsu._ His thought was simply an observation. There was no impression behind what she had done and it was almost pathetic for him. Using genjutsu on the eyes that could see all, it was insulting. He let his kekkei genkei do its job and see right through the illusion.

Kisame sneered realizing this as well. Kisame pressed more weight down onto the sword with only one hand and nearly touched Asuma's shoulder. Asuma was impressed with this strength. The most impressive thing was because this man was solely using brute force. It was nearly inhuman for anyone to possess such strength. With a little more pressure, Kisame was able to let the edge of his sword touch the man's arms. He smiled, "My large sword, Shark Skin…" He tore it away with more effort than he was using to hold it there and for good reason. The sword had drawn out large shark like scales that had dug into Asuma's skin, tearing the skin clean off his arm. The bandages covering this large sword were torn in the process revealing just how deadly this sword was. "It doesn't cut, but lops it off!" He said with pride in his voice.

Asuma was now setting, bent over and holding his injured arm. A small smile graced his lips. "Kurenai… you're late." He said. A moment later Kisame looked shocked as he watched the ground from beneath him raised up and try to entangle him. Itachi merely stood motionless as a large tree began to form around him, wrapping large branches around him to trap him. The young Uchiha looked up and saw exactly what he was expecting to see. Kurenai reached out of the tree that now enclosed him with a kunai in hand.

The kunai was raised into the air, ready to strike. "With this… it's over." Kurenai whispered and brought down the kunai. Itachi smirked simply at him. In the blink of an eye their roles were switched. Kurenai gasped surprised. How could this have happened? When did it happen? _Not many people see through my illusions, my lies, not many people can see me._ "Genjutsu of that level doesn't work on me." He said emotionlessly. As Kurenai tired to think of how in the world he was able to do something like that and only concluded that it was a genjutsu reversal.

She would not be able to continue her trail of thought, as Itachi allowed a kunai to peer out of his long sleeves. The kunai shined in the bright sunlight. The woman closed her eyes and bit her lip until it bled, a small trickle of blood falling from the wound down to her chin. Itachi came charging at her to kill her and Kurenai braced for the worst for a moment before she had a look of utter shock. She managed to end the genjutsu but barely managed to duck down, a few of her hairs got cut off. With a very flowing movement, Itachi allowed the full motion of the strike to go through and allowed himself to pull back and kick Kurenai in her center which she managed to block in time.

With the force of his kick sent her flying, she was tossed towards the river before them and fell right in unable to break her own fall. "Kurenai!" Asuma shouted with concern, looking towards his fallen comrade.

Kisame smirked, cocky. "There's no time to look away." He said a light laugh behind his tone. Asuma's attention immediately snapped back forward towards his rival, forgetting he was in the middle of a fight as well. He got his chakra blades in position for another attack.

The water cascaded off of the dark haired kunoichi. "That's what's expected from you, Kurenai." Itachi said calmly and monotone. Kurenai's heart nearly stopped when she realized that the young Uchiha had managed to get behind her. What a grave mistake it was to allow a man of his strength to get behind her. "But…" Itachi began.

He looked down at her, ready to kill her as he had promised but was interrupted by a familiar voice. "But this is as far as it goes… for you." Kakashi had arrived to the scene saving Asuma from one of Kisame's powerful jutsu and halting Itachi with merely his presence.

Asuma placed his hand into his pocket. "Why have you shown up too?" He asked, coolly.

"Well… I asked you to take care of them earlier." The Kakashi clone said standing in front of Asuma. "But I kinda felt uneasy, you know?" the real Kakashi finished standing behind the young Uchiha, a kunai aimed for his back. Sharingan had met sharingan for the first time in years.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Man Named Itachi

_Oh, how I knew this was a mistake. The biggest mistake I had possibly made in my life. The sun was gleaming and everything seemed vibrant. The blues seemed bluer, the sky seemed lighter and the chirping of the birds seemed merrier. Or at least, that what it seemed like to me. I was happy and possibly delighted as we entered the main house. There were files stacked in my hand and what a good day it was indeed. Just made ANBU and a good partner for the squad I was assigned to. I could not contain the bright smile that made my whole face radiate with a golden and accomplished glow. Everyone who recognized me seemed to catch this new and contagious joy. Everyone around me seemed merry unlike the norm where everyone went about the daily routine, with nothing out of the ordinary._

_As usual, I stepped inside the house only to hear my name being called, two little hands grasping my shirt and a young face pressing into my stomach. "Hey, hey, big brother! Can we play?" Sasuke said chirping just as joyously and carefree as the birds and I like it. I found it to be an absolutely splendid time. I felt no stress, and if only for a moment there was no obligation to anyone. I nodded to my younger brother and watched him jump in excitement and was soon as I stepped into the house I was out with him. My contagious smile turned into a contagious laugh. My happiness was overflowing and radiating out of me. I didn't try to control or make it seem less emanate. My younger brother and I finally made it to the place with both liked. The training grounds we had been using since I had entered the academy. How much has changed since then, but at least this hadn't._

_I was trying to keep my mind on this momentary happiness; this illusion. I trained with my younger brother to his content. I did not want to think about what would come a few nights from now, what would await me and I would be the only one to know. What could possibly happen in those few nights? Nothing I assumed. Everything would go exactly according to plan. It always did, like clockwork. _

_Soon I became a captain in the ANBU or more officially known as Division Chief. "Captain, Uchiha Itachi. First Officer, Sato Kaeda. First Cadet, Watanabe Taiyo. Second Cadet, Ito Youhei. Third Cadet, Matsuo Isako." The announcer shouted to the auditorium as everyone was separated into five groups corresponding with their rank. Once the list was read the captains went off to their designated rooms and the rest of the company went off to read the listed placed in front of the room. One by one all the cadets filled into my room and the minutes ticked by as we waited for the officer. It was me sitting in the room in silence with three other men, all older than me by a few years. I looked around as the cadets made small talk with each other._

_Sooner or later the ticking of the clock became annoying to me. I stood and everyone went silent. "Has anyone seem her or know her?" I asked. I only received the image of the three simultaneous shaking their heads. I sighed and stepped out of the room to see if she was lost or something. I wanted to get the meeting and greeting over with and go home. It was silly that they started placing the ANBU into teams. Of course we had no power over it. I stopped a cadet that was passing by. I pulled the list of names out of my pocket. "Have you seen Sato Kaeda anywhere?" I asked._

"_Sato Kaeda… I think she's the girl pointing out to the cadets where to go." The person timidly responded._

"_Show me." I demanded. _

_I was led to a very, very busy and crowded intersection. In the center was a girl about my age surrounded by men and women, first year ANBU not sure where to go. "Down that hall and take third hall to your right." More shouting and murmuring. "Down that hall, fifth door to your right, you're very welcome." I pushed my way through the people. The cadets started to back off until I got to her. There was a man there with his room number. "Umm… I think that one is in…" _

"_Where's room 152?" Her curious brown eyes looked from the man she was helping to me. She gulped down and I quickly realized that she was from my graduating class. She let out a nervous chuckle. Immediately we knew that there would be conflict between us. _

Bitter silence filled the area. No one dared to even breath, the tension created unwanted fear in the weak minded. Yet no one there was weak minded. Everyone in the mist of the battle was a strong willed shinobi ready for anything at the drop of the hat. Yet these two rogue shinobi created some problems with that. It was shocking how easily Kisame and Itachi managed to infiltrate the village which only led one to believe their strength was immeasurable. The white haired shinobi, with hair that gave no regards for gravity and normality, spoke the deadliest of the two shinobi. "What business does a Rogue Ninja like you have in this village now?" They believed that he had severed all his ties to the village, or at least it seemed like he had.

Bright red tomeo turned to the white haired man with the same eyes. "Kakashi Hatake…" Itachi identified him.

"This is surprising. No wonder you copied my technique…" Kisame said realizing that Kakashi had sharingan as well. "So there really is a fellow besides Itachi who has that eye. Your name is Kakashi the Copy Ninja, wasn't it?"

"I'm the one who was surprised." The clone defending Asuma said. "I saw strange men in the tea house and wondered who they were… There they were Itachi Uchiha and the Mystery Man of Hidden Mist Village, Kisame Hoshigaki."

The sharkman sneered in amusement. "Well, well… You know even my name. It's an honor."

Kakashi glared keep a close eye on that man. "I see. You're one of the "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist". That huge sword is the "Shark Skin", right?"

Kisame laughed and lifted his sword a bit. "I heard that kid Zabuza had it out with you?"

Kakashi reached back and grabbed a metal item. "Yeah…" He whispered. He had a kunai prepared behind his back.

Kisame pointed the sword at the clone. "You are someone who's well worth lopping off…" The fishman commented as if killing was a sport.

_I will have none of that._ "Stop it, Kisame." Itachi snapped with a calm, even tone but enough pressure to crack anyone. "If you were to go at it with that man, it won't end without cost. And if you spend too much time, another shinobi would come running."

"But…" the shark man said.

"Don't lose sight of the goal… You didn't come here to get injured!" Itachi replied sharply.

"Let me hear that "goal" then…" Kakashi said before the clone popped only leaving the real man behind Itachi.

There was silence as everyone waited for the response to that question. All the shinobi could have sworn it was the younger brother, he wanted Sasuke or at least to come in and kill him. It was his one flaw during the Uchiha massacre, it could be complete with just getting rid of Sasuke, but that wasn't the case. None of the shinobi were expecting the truth, and it was shocking. "Just came to find something we're looking for." The young man answered vaguely.

"Something you're looking for?" Kakashi questioned. He lifted a kunai. "The thing you're looking for… What is it?"

Itachi was silent for a moment. "I'm different from Kisame, I won't take time." They glared at each other and Itachi moved his hand out of his sleeve revealing 3 shuriken. Kakashi jumped away something else rather than a simply shuriken attack. Kakashi made hand seals and once he placed his feet onto the water a barrier of water shot up and blocked the water strikes at him. Kurenai brought her arm up to shield herself from the water that splashed onto her, Itachi didn't even flinch.

_His eye couldn't even follow my movements. That shuriken was a decoy at least he caught on and made it just in time, which means that he is at least aware of his situation._ "That's what I expected from you, Kakashi. Your power of analytical eye…" the clone finished and stabbed Kakshi in the back. "…is great. Kurenai had a look of awe on her face as to how he could possibly be so fast.

"A shadow clone?" She questioned. "His jutsu speed is too fast!" She said before the Kakashi clone turned into water. The real Kakashi handed up a kunai and Kurenai took it, "Nice, Kakashi."

Yet as soon as she took it Kakashi jumped out of the water and grabbed her. "Get down, Kurenai!" He shouted before the Itachi clone exploded. Asume shouted their names in worry and jumped into the water that had risen from the explosion to check if they were ok. Once the explosion had run its course the water cascaded down as if it was rain. The three shinobi tried to relax for a moment before the fighting began once more. Kurenai and Asuma had their eyes locked on the enemy but Kakashi had his back facing them. His body cringed and the movement made it noticeable that fighting with sharingan took a toll on the user's body. "Don't lower your guard…" Kakashi said turning back around to face Itachi. "He's the guy who became a division chief of ANBU Black Ops at 13 years old…"

"To think he's this powerful…" Asuma whispered in shock as they got into their positions.

Kakashi kept a glare in his eyes at the teen. "No, you haven't seen this guy's strength yet."

"I didn't expect that you who are not a member of the Uchiha clan would have mastered the Sharingan to that extent…" Itachi began calmly. Kakashi's abilities to him changed nothing. His skills compared to that of an Uchiha were very minimal. "But your body isn't the Uchiha clan body that goes with the eye."

"That's right." Kakashi admitted, beads of sweat forming in his brow. "As a result, my stamina doesn't last."

Itachi closed his eyes. "There's a reason why the Uchiha Clan was deemed the strongest and feared…" The wind began to blow faster than before and with more force. "I'll demonstrate the true strength of Sharingan, the Kekkei Genkai."

His eye lids slowly began to rise. His eyes seemed more calm and pupils a bit larger than before. Immediately Kakashi noticed and nearly jumped out of his skin in fear. "I-It can't be!" He shouted. "This is bad! Both of you! Don't look at his eyes!" Both Asuma and Kurenai shut their eyes tightly and Kakashi shut his regular eye. "Both of you, absolutely do not open your eyes… It's all over now if your eyes meet." They were fearful, sweat running down the sides of their faces. They knew that the Uchiha had very powerful visual genjutsu. Kurenai gulped hard from the ball of fear that had formed in her throat. "Only people with Sharingan can have a go with that technique."

Itachi softly spoke. "Indeed with Sharingan, you can resist this Mangekyo Sharingan to a certain extent." That phrase was different and new. None of the shinobi before had heard of that before. "However…" At that point, his eyes were completely open. "This special Visual Jutsu of Sharingan, Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi, Nightmare Realm is unbreakable. The only person who can bring me down is someone using the same Kekkei Genkai, a sharingan user…" Kakashi thought of the younger Uchiha brother before Tsukuyomi completely took him over and placed him under the genjutsu. The sky swirled into the sun before the sun turned black, and the sky turned red and the clouds swirled back out and became black as well. He was put into an inverse world. It as a world completely controlled by Itachi and he had no say in it. The clouds started passing them quickly and Kakashi found himself shackled onto perpendicular pieces of wood, unable to move. He looked in front of him and saw Itachi, holding a katana. "I wonder how much you can take without the Kekkei Genkai?"

He let the katana fall in front of him and he stabbed Itachi with it. Kakashi winced in pain. He pulled the katana out and Kakashi let out a snarl of pain. Kakashi closed his sharingan eye and tried to take a deep breath so he could catch his breath and try to elevate the pain. He opened his eyes again and looked down to find that his wound had disappeared. He looked forward and found two Itachis standing before him. "In the world of Tsukuyomi…" One of them stabbed Kakashi with the katana again. "Both space and time…" the second one stabbed him as well. "and mass… I control them all." They kept on stabbing him. "For the next 72 hours I'll stab you continually with swords." This continued for a long long time. "It's best not to be optimistic and think it's an illusion. This pain is not an illusion. This pain is absolutely no different from reality. How long will your spirit sustain?"

Hours seemed to have passed and Kakashi found himself in the middle of the river from before still shakeled down and surrounded by hundreds… maybe even thousands of Itachis all holding a katana of their own ready to stab him. Kakashi was spent, too tired to keep on going, it was too painful and there was not nearly enough time for his body to recover from it. He looked right at Itachi. "There's 71 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds left." As all the swords began to pierce Kakashi he was unable to take it anymore and fell out of the genjutsu barely alive. He was panting and still very much in pain. Heavy bags had formed under his eyes and he could barely keep his eyes open.

Kakashi tried hard to keep his eyes on Itachi but his whole body collapsed. "Are you ok Kakashi? Are you saying we should keep our eyes closed still?" Kurenai asked.

"N-Not yet…" Kakashi tired to speak, keeping himself up with his hands and knees.

"What happened?" Asuma questioned. "Just as that guy finished speaking you suddenly fell over!"

Kakashi pushed himself up to knell as he realized the power of the illusion he was just in and how easily Itachi could have taken his life. Kisame appeared next to Itachi. "Whoa… to take that Jutsu without cuasing his spirit to collapse, but Itachi… it's also dangerous for you to overuse those eyes." It was evident that is eyes were twitching in pain a bit and made it evident that he let Kakashi survive so he didn't do damage to himself.

"The thing you are looking for…" Kakashi asked, still weak. "is it Sasuke?"

Itachi's eyes began to relax. "No… the legacy of the Fourth Hokage…" Everyone gasped; it suddenly made their motive more vague than it was before. Itachi pushed his bangs out of his face. So their target was not the brother, Sasuke, but the young blonde, the fox boy, Uzumaku Naruto.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox inside Naruto is your target?" Kakashi asked, trying to confirm that they were after the power of the jinchuuriki. "I know that you two aren't the only ones on the move… The name or your organization is Akatsumi, right?"

This made everyone there jump. Itachi flew into action. "Kisame! We'll take Kakashi, erase the other two." Kisame rushed forward towards the two with their eyes closed, as he was about to slice them in two he was met by the strongest kick in the village. _Severe Leaf Hurricanes!_ The loveable man in the green jumpsuit had made his way into the scene.

Kisame was sent flying back to Itachi's side, drag marks that were made in the water vanished and Kisame whipped his head to look at the man. "Who are you?" he asked.

With a brilliant smirk he answered, "The Leaf's noble, blue fierce animal… Mighty Guy!" He answered he said with his eyes open unlike the rest.

Kisame sneered and stood up straight. "What a sight… shouldn't you be called a strange beast?" He asked.

"Don't underestimate that man…" Itachi quickly snapped. Before a move could be made, Kakashi distracted everyone. He passed out and started sinking into the water below them. Guy bent down and picked him up.

From his knelt position he turned to Itachi and asked, "Did you do this to Kakashi?" He asked.

"Don't look at Itachi's eyes, Guy! You'll be caught up in his jutsu!" Asuma advised.

"I know that already!" Guy snapped back. "In order to fight Kakashi, I devised ways to battle the sharingan. Open your eyes, both of you! When you battle with sharingan, it's not a problem if you don't look at those eyes! You work around it by gaining insight into his movements by looking constantly at his feet."

Kurenai opened her eyes and stared at the feet of the two men. "Now that you mention it you're probably right but…"

"You're the only one who can do that." Asuma finished also opening his eyes.

Guy stood up, Kakashi dangling off of his shoulder. "That's true…" Guy admitted. "There's a knack to reading all of your opponents' movements only by his feet. But I can't teach it to you in this emergency. Just get used it right now!"

"What should we do?" Asuma asked.

"Kurenai, you get Kakashi to the medical team." He handed Kakashi over to Kurenai who had to manage his weight. "Asuma, you are my back-up!" He said. Asuma nodded agreeingly. "And until the reinforcements of the ANBU Black Ops I arrange for arrive, I will hang out with you guys." Guy said, getting into his fighting stance. His enterance smirk was gone and was now replaced with a look of determination and seriousness.

Kisame smirked instead. "Insteresting… that's some nerve…" He said nearly applauding Guy for what he had done. Kisame got ready to fight.

"Kisame… stop." Itachi barked his order. "We didn't come to have a war." He said. "It's too bad, but no more of this nonsense. We're leaving." He said.

There was a moment of silence between them. An awkward moment in which Kisame clearly let off the vibes of how pissed he was at Itachi. Yet he couldn't say anything since Itachi was the leader between the two. Kisame let his sword fall behind him, his hand still gripping the long handle tightly. "Too bad, I was finally feeling motivated. It can't be helped". The two of them quickly disappeared into the air.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Pursuing Blondes

_Kaeda let go of Sasuke's hand as she shuffled through her bag to get the key. She pulled it out and smiled at him. "Our very own home isn't it exciting?" She asked as she stared at his blank face stripped of emotion. Kaeda bit her lip and unlocked the door. Kaeda pulled all their two bags into the apartment. "So you can go pick your room if you want." She said with a smile. She watched Sasuke disappear into the apartment building. She sighed and went to pull about three or four boxes into the apartment as well. She opened the box labeled 'office supplies' and got a notebook that had everything listened._

"_Sasuke's clothes… check. My clothes… check. Office stuff, check, bathroom and bedding, check. ANBU, items… check. She looked around, before she began scribbling stuff onto the notebook. "Coach, coffee table, curtains…" She closed the front door and ventured into the kitchen. She stared and sighed. "Table, seats, pots, pans… food." She underlined the word food three times. She closed the notebook and set it along with the pen she was writing with on the counter. _

_Kaeda looked back around for a moment in between the kitchen and the living. Suddenly she wondered where Sasuke was. She sighed and went to look from him. She walked into the only hallway and noticed that he had taken the bedroom across from the only detached bathroom. Kaeda leaned against the door frame and smiled, noticing he had just fallen asleep onto the bed. She watched him for a moment. She shook her head and went off to the front of the apartment, to the boxes. She opened the box with the bathroom and bedding things and pulled out a cover. She went back to Sasuke's new room and laid it on top of him. _

_She stood over him for a moment. Much like a mother who has just brought her baby home from the hospital, she stared wondering whether she needed to get him something or give him something. Maybe she should make food or did he need something heavier than what he had. A million questions buzzed her head but not enough answers. She jumped as Sasuke's eyes opened a bit._

"_What are you doing?" He asked, quietly. He sounded tired and no one could blame him. He had just gotten out of the hospital. The injury I had given him had just healed and he as coping with his whole family's death. _

_Kaeda attempted to find something to say. She sighed. "Sasuke, would you like to go out for dinner?" She asked, calmly. She had never seen him like this. She was so used to the cute and bubbly Sasuke that was always latched onto his brother's leg. She was so used to the boy who loved unconditionally and strived to be better and better. She did not like this bitter and cold boy._

_Sasuke looked right at her with his bitter black eyes. "No." He answered, though quietly there was enough tone in that one simple word to reveal how annoyed he was, simply by the notion of it. _

_Kaeda sighed and tried to come up with an alternative. "Alright, then what would you like for dinner, Sasuke?" She whispered._

"_Tuna." He said and pulled the cover over his head going back to sleep. _

"_Do you want a pillow?" She asked._

"_No." Sasuke replied. _

_Kaeda sighed. After a moment of hesitation she reached out and patted the top of his head even if it was covered. "Sweet dreams. I'll be here if you need anything." Sasuke pulled himself further into his ball. She smiled and ruffled his hair above the cover before she left. She closed his door behind him. Kaeda sent out a clone to go get the tuna and the ingredients and other things. Kaeda began to clean and put things in their place. The day could not have gone smoother; even as she glanced into the door of the silent boy she was content. _

While the village was off cleaning up and fixing the village, something else was on the mind of the young 13 year old and it wasn't fixing things. The large boulder in front of him erupted into smoke because of his assault of chidori. He looked at the two holes in the boulder. His breaths had become short and staggered as he tried to regain his energy. A hateful glare was glazed over his black eyes. "I wasn't…" He began. "I wasn't able to do anything…" He thought. Sasuke let himself be brought back to the attack from Gaara, as his whole body petrified because of the curse mark.

He thought about how Naruto was able to do so much more, how Naruto had excelled so much further than he had in the same time span as him. It was annoying; everything around him just bothered him. Kaeda's inability to let go of the past, and Naruto's get leap beyond him. _You won't be able to defeat me._ The thought of that alone was enough to drive him past his limits. He gathered up his chakra to form another round of chidori and he unleashed it onto the rock before him, anger and hatred fuming in his core.

Asuma, Guy, Kurenai and Kaeda were all gathered around Kakashi and Kaeda tended to him. No matter how much she healed him, he wouldn't wake up. "It appears that they haven't found Naruto yet." Guy said as he sat in a stool a few feet away from Kakashi's bed.

Asuma pulled himself onto Kakashi's desk and rested onto of his feet onto the chair. "But don't you think that's strange?" He asked.

Kaeda sighed. "I'm going to go to the hospital and see if I can make him some medicine." She said. She opened the door and left. Everyone watched carefully. Once the door closed behind her and she was out of the corridor of the apartment building they began talking again.

"It's strange, those guys had already infiltrated the village." Asuma continued. "It should be easy to find Naruto in this village. Itachi knows Naruto's face."

Guy shushed them. Sasuke opened up the door and stepped into the room. He saw Kakashi state. Kaeda had finally reached the exit on the other side of where Sasuke entered. She looked confused as a Jonin dashed inside with unbelievable speed. He stopped and bowed to Kaeda. "I am so sorry, Miss Sato. I hope Sasuke is safe with you, if not I advise you to keep him under your surveillance for the next couple of days." Before she could question him he ran inside. Kaeda stood confused for a moment.

Sasuke stared at Kakashi before speaking, "Why is Kakashi sleeping?" He said, oblivious. "Besides, only Jonin are gathering here… What are you doing? What in the world happened?"

Everyone tried to remain silent. "Nothing… in particular…" Guy said.

The Jonin from the door rushed into the room. "Is it true that Itachi has returned?" He asked. Everyone glared at him but he didn't get the hint. "And moreover, that he's after Naruto…?" Afterwards is when he realized everyone's looks and even Guy hit his own face with his hand in aguish. Sasuke turned to the man who had just spoke his brother's name. He then realized why everyone was silent.

"Idiot…" Kurenai whispered.

Sasuke's black eyes once so dark were beginning to be infused with pure red fire, lighting up his eyes like sparks from metal hitting metal in the midst of war. That same fire managed its way into his veins and gave him the energy he needed to run out of the room. He rushed down the stairs only to bump into Kaeda who was making her way back up to question the Jonin. She nearly threw him off balance. She grabbed his shoulder to keep him steady. "What's wrong, Sasuke?" She asked him, seeing the hateful look in his eyes. "What happened?"

"Did you know too?" He asked shaking with anger.

"Know what?" Kaeda asked, still holding him feeling his trembling.

"You knew that Itachi was back!" Kaeda was thrown off and stepped back, let him go. That moment was enough for Sasuke to go running off. Kaeda was still in shock and had to sit down. She wasn't sure how to feel. Sasuke on the other hand had all these negative emotions running through him. In the midst of the negativity, he wasted no time in getting to Naruto's apartment. He opened the door only to let Sakura stumble out.

"Sasuke!" She said shocked.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke snapped.

"Huh? I just got here too." Sasuke realized that he wasn't here so he ran off. "I wanted to give Naruto…"

He didn't let her finish before he disappeared going after Naruto again. Next immediate stop was Ichiraku as Sasuke had troubling thoughts about how it would end for Naruto if Itachi were to find him. "Hey old man!" He said to Ichiraku. "Naruto must have come here! And do you know where he went after that?" He asked.

The chief looked at him. "Oh, Naruto, right…" He said taking his sweet time to remember. "If I remember correctly… Master Jiraiya came here around noon and they ate ramen together, and he said he was going somewhere…"

Sasuke was completely on edge. "Where?" He snapped. He didn't have time for this.

"Hmm… I think he said to a post station some distance from the village… and then he left with Master Jiraiya."

"Jiraiya?" Sasuke asked, confused.

"Jiraiya – one of the three genius sannin. Well in appearance, he just looks like a big white-haired old man."

"Big and white-haired…" Sasuke took that mental note and then vanished again, he ran out of the village towards the next town.

Kaeda finally managed to make her way back to Kakashi's room. "Why didn't you three tell me?" She asked the three silent Jonin. "Why didn't you tell me it was Itachi?" She asked.

"Sasuke told you?" Asuma asked. Kaeda nodded.

"Well at least he didn't run out to do something rash." Kurenai said. Kaeda's head finally started turning and in the next moment she dashed out as well and she went after Sasuke, frightened that he would go after Itachi. In the middle of it she stopped dead in her tracks feeling a tight hand wrapped around her throat, a memory coming back to haunt her a voice telling her to never become involved with the clan's business ever again. She shook her head and broke free from the mental block. She needed to go after Sasuke.

"That post town isn't that far off…" Sasuke told himself as he kept on running, worry and anger still running in his veins.

Naruto was in his room practicing his chakra control. He was mad that Jaraiya had left him behind for some pretty girl. "This! Somehow this always happens when I'm with that Pervy Sage!" He shouted angrily through his teeth. Sasuke made it to the village and was quickly making his way around. Soon after Kaeda arrived too from tracing his chakra but then it got blended in with everyone else's. "I wonder if he really has any inclination to oversee my training…"

It was so hard to realize but so many things were happening at once. With unbelievable stealth Itachi and Kisame were moving towards the room of the silly blonde boy, the only one who is stationary. Sasuke was going from hotel to hotel asking for a man with white hair and a boy with blonde hair. Kaeda was trying to track either Naruto, or Sasuke or even Itachi down. Jiraiya was steadily getting further and further from Naruto, leaving him unprotected and defenseless. Sasuke finally found a hotel with two people fitting his description and went up to knock on the door.

Sasuke knocked on that door and Naruto heard a knock on his door. All of the clones that had fallen asleep began to disappear one by one as the knocking began. Naruto looked at the door and knocking continued as Sasuke continued knocking on the door. "What's up?" Naruto asked as he jumped off of the bed. "Has she already dumped you?" The knocking became more urgent. "Okay, okay!" The door clicked to unlock. Sasuke jumped back a little anxious to see him. "Okay, okay, I'll open up!"

Before he could even finish opening the door Sasuke grabbed the edge and yanked it open. "Naruto!" He shouted in only to see a boy younger than him with his grandfather. A horrified expression flushed over his face at the realization that Itachi Uchiha had managed to get to Naruto before he could. "It's not him…" Was the only thing that could come out of his mouth. He was stood petrified in fear.

Naruto looked up at the man before him. He was frozen from the pressure of his chakra, unable to move or do much, not even blink. His shadow overcame him much like his chakra and his bright red sharingan.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Horrid Old Memories

"_Welcome." I said to the group of four. The late one was holding a clip board, one all people in her role had. I studied the rest. I could tell that we had a team with nearly all the elements, a sentinel, a healer, and one great with taijutsu. I would particularly enjoy this team and the missions we would be assigned. Or at least I believed. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I am thirteen years old and I am your captain. I know it's odd that only at the age of 13 I am in the ANBU and three of you are in your twenties and just managed to get in but age shouldn't matter. Let's fight well and do well for this country. I trust that every single one of you will pull your weight and uphold Konaha's values as shinobi." I said examining everyone's faces. "I have your masks." I said gesturing to the box. "Please pick yours up; if you don't like it… it isn't that important really…" _

_The kunoichi with long brown hair that was in a braid that went down to her waist set down her clip board and stood up. She took the box and placed it near the rest of them. She opened the box and handed each person their mask. "Oh!" She said in a chirpy tone. She reached into the box and pulled out five files within a folder. "That is our first mission. We are to obtain some intel being held by the Mist Village. A past team had failed at delivering it to its destination and it's our job to retrieve it." Everyone's eyes locked onto me. I knew what question was burning in their minds. What befell the team that lost the intel. "There was one survivor from the team of four. We will not fall into that kind of trap. Along with the details of the mission I have the report of the ANBU that survived. Prepare yourself and we will come up with a plan in two days and leave four." I leaned off of the wall I was resting against. "I don't want failures. Remember you are here because you can do what regular civilians can't. You are special. Don't fail now since you have gotten so far."_

_The first officer, the girl my age stood. "May I speak, Captain?" She asked. At least the brunette had manners. I nodded. "I am obligated to hand this around to the three of you. It is a sheet that is made for you to list all your abilities. It will allow for the captain to have an easier time when coming up with strategies. Also your person medical information goes to me. First officer is always a healer. We are the doctors that escort the teams around." She sat back down. _

_I sighed heavily. "Shall we get to know everyone's names as we do this?" I asked. "Stand and state your name, rank or role and intentions for joining the ANBU."_

_I gestured towards the first officer. She stood, perfectly straight like a toy soldier. "My name is Sato Kaeda, healer and sentinel, I joined to ANBU to get stronger." She said and sat back down. Hungry for power? I hated her already. _

_I went on to the first cadet and he stood. "My name is Watanabe Taiyo, water and earth ninjutsu and also good taijutsu. I joined because I was promoted by a senior shinobi." Someone who looks ahead. _

_They kept this up and kept talking as I noted how each person was and how they acted and what their goals where. Once they were done, we all dismissed ourselves. I stayed after a little bit longer to clean up and write down some notes for myself and figure out simply from that meeting how I wanted this first mission to commence. I packed my things once I was done and took everything and headed out the door._

_As I stepped out, Kaeda bumped into me holding a tray with tea. She yelped as the tea fell back onto her. "Oh, my god! I'm sorry, so sorry." She said, getting the napkin she had set onto the tray and started whipping the floor. I knelt beside her and started helping her, "I heard you were still here as I was leaving and thought that you would be here for a long time." _

_My gaze turned towards her, confused by what she had said. "Why?"_

"_Isn't that a first officer's job? To ensure that the captain is well at all times, sir." She said saluting me. If I had known that this meeting would soon make you my first lover and that soon I would have to pretend to kill you and put you through hell… I would have stood and left you there, but I didn't, like the silly man I am._

Itachi Uchiha stood over the young and oblivious Naruto who wondered who the Sasuke look alike with sharingan was. He was terrified and his body refused to obey him and move. Sweat was running down his face and his warm blue eyes looked attentively trying to figure out what was going on. From behind the Uchiha stepped out the blue skinned shark man, Kisame. "Really… who'd believe a kid like you to have the Nine-Tailed Fox in him." He said. Naruto turned his attention to Kisame.

He had previously believed that only a few selected people knew about the Nine-Tails. It only made him a little more afraid. In a soothing voice as if to elevate his fears, Itachi spoke, "Naruto, you will come with us." He said. Naruto flinched at the sound of that.

Sasuke left the hotel he found the false Naruto in and kept running down the road. He had sensed Itachi and that was enough. _I felt heavy, heavier than any usual morning. I was fixing my shoes as usual and heard the usual voice. "Big brother." That little voice that once gave me joy now gave me a heart ache. I looked back at him. There was my little brother with his spiky hair and his black eyes that were the same as mine. "Today, when school's over, help me train for a shuriken jutsu?" He asked quietly, and happily. _

"_I'm busy…" I replied. "Have Father teach you." I prayed he would say yes. I wanted more than anything for Father and Sasuke bond a little bit before the night ended. _

_His usual pout came over his face at least that was still as cute as before. "But you're better at shuriken jutsu, Big Brother…even I can see that." He said. "You always treat me like a pest, Big Brother."_

_Those words broke my heart. I fully turned around to him and waved him closer, without speaking a word to him. With a curious look he came running to me I lifted two fingers and as he realized what was going on it was too late for him to stop. He tried to pull back but I managed to poke his forehead just in time. "Forgive me, Sasuke… Some other time, okay?" I asked, feeling sad._

_I fell into deep thought without thinking about it. Too upset, too depressed. How could they be forcing me to do this detestable task? How could I have agreed? I am the worst one of the all and here I am promising my brother a time that will never come. I am stealing precious time from him and precious memories in more ways than one. How could I possibly be doing that? I could feel my eyes hardening the deeper I went into my thoughts._

_I pushed myself up. "I don't have time to pay attention to you today." I said, trying to strain our bond just a little bit._

_Behind my back he raised his hand and rubbed the area that had turned red from me poking him. "You're always jabbing my forehead and saying "forgive me, Sasuke". You also say "not today" but there's never a day." He said. I opened the door and headed out. Despite me not looking at him, I could tell he was smiling at me. That would be our last conversation as brothers._

_Hours flew by and the next thing I wanted to remember was the scream "Don't kill me!" That echoed through the compound. I appeared in front of my younger brother with tears still streaming down his face. He was breathing hard and terrified. "Don't kill me…" He whispered._

"_You're not even worth killing…" I felt like a puppet. This was not me, some stranger was in my body, and foreign words were being spilled from my lips. I wished with all I could to break free of this person. Yet, I knew if I did I would have to come to face my puppeteer who stained my hands with this blood. "Foolish little brother…" He trembled and somewhere inside my body I trembled myself, with hatred and sadness. The self hatred that had been created was the puppeteer I realized. "If you want to kill me, begrudge me! Hate me! And keep on surviving in that unsightly manner… Just continue fleeing and fleeing and hang onto your life!" I suddenly wondered how I could allow this puppeteer speak to my little brother with such words. _

_Ha, I knew because the only thing that was left was hatred. That's why know while you are coming for me, Sasuke, it's all because of hatred isn't it? Nothing from that night has changed. The only thing you inherited from me was hatred. _

Naruto kept staring up at Itachi. "Shall we go outside?" He asked. Itachi moved out of the door way and as he moved Naruto moved too, it was completely willing as well. Naruto noticed that it would be safer to obey at this point than to go to such extensive length and put his life in grave danger.

Kisame looked skeptical. "Itachi, it'll be a pain in the neck if this kid moves around, maybe I better chop off a leg just in case…" Naruto shook in his place as Kisame reached back to grasp the handle of his sword. The sweat on his face became more evident than before. Kisame stepped forward since Itachi's gaze was downcast and he wasn't saying anything. "Now then…" He started and approached Naruto.

The sharkman seemed like a giant before Naruto and the looming silence was terrifying. Then Itachi spoke quietly. "Long time no see…" He said quietly. "Sasuke."

"Uchiha Itachi!" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto winced and looked up at the man. "Uchiha… Itachi?" He whispered, frightened even more realizing that this was the man Sasuke had been talking about for the month that they had been team mates.

Sasuke had the most hateful scowl on his face. Kisame smirked just smiling at the situation. "Huh, Sharingan and moreover, he resmembles you a lot. Who the hell is he?" Kisame asked.

"He's my younger brother." Itachi said simply. A dumbfounded expression flew over Naruto's face, his jaw hung open and his eyes opened wide.

"But I heard that the entire Uchiha clan had been murdered. By you." Kisame said.

Itachi didn't flinch or react to Itachi's statement. "Itachi Uchiha… I will kill you!" Sasuke said. Naruto's face became angered as he looked at Itachi. Itachi turned like he was sparing the boy a moment of his time. They both closed their eyes charging up their chakra into their eye techniques. Once they opened their eyes powerful chakra swirled in both their eyes. "It's just as you said," _Let the bloodshed begin again._ "I held a grudge against you and hated you. For the singular purpose of killing you, I…" Chidori began to charge into the palm of his hand. The chirping of birds greeted their ears and the sight of bright blue lightning shined in the hall. "I have lived my life!"

He dragged chidori along the walls creating more friction until the final moment were the thrust it against Itachi. Itachi simply redirected the blast as it punched a hole into the wall. Kaeda stopped in the streets when she saw it. She dashed forward and went towards it. After the chidori destroyed two sets of walls the Uchiha brothers stared at each other, lightning still crackling in Sasuke's hand. Itachi was painfully holding Sasuke's wrist. Naruto as shocked how Sasuke's chidori was so easily tarnished. Itachi twisted his wrist a little bit.

Naruto immediately tried to use a summons to save him. He began to pull out the chakra of the Nine-Tails. "So this is the Nine-Tailed Fox Chakra!" Kisame said as both Akatsumi member's noticed the chakra encircling Naruto.

"You jerk! You're in the way!" Sasuke shouted, only remind Itachi he was there and giving him the opportunity to snap his wrist. Sasuke let out a wail of pain.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, worried. He started to do the hand seals for the summoning but Kisame threw his blade to the ground cutting the chakra aura and 'eating' the chakra. Naruto struggled and tried to build up more chakra for the summons.

"My Shark skin blade has the ability to cut through and eat chakra." Kisame explained as the blade started to move beneath the bandages. Naruto was again petrified with fear. "It'll be a pain in the ass if the kid moves around and uses jutsu like that… Before the legs, should I chop off these arms?" He asked pointing the blade to Naruto shoulder. The sword came down onto Naruto but was blocked by an armored toad.

"You guys just don't know me much, do you?" A voice asked from the smoke. "This man Jiraiya does not fall victim to any woman's allurement, but rather his forte is winning women's affection! I'm not made to blinding follow after a woman's feminine charm! When you get to my level, women yelp with delight at my sex appeal!" Jiraiya realized how stupid he probably looked.

Naruto turned around and accusingly he shouted, "You were totally excited by a lame tactic like a woman winking at you! You shouldn't be the one to try acting all sauve and cool, you Pervy Sage!"

"Like I said, don't call me that in front of people…" Jiraiy said quietly scratching the back of his head.

"Quiet! More importantly these people aren't normal, Pervy Sage!" He said turning back around and pointed at Itachi and Kisame. "Did you hear me, Pervy Sage!"

"Like I said, don't call me Pervy Sage!" Jiraiya shouted.

Kisame chuckled. "You are, after all, Master Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin… I didn't believe that I'd be able to stop you so easily despite the fact that you are a huge womanizer."

"What?" Naruto shouted disturbed. "You know the true identity of Pervy Sage?"

"Well no, that's not necessarily who I really am…"

"Seems like you released the genjutsu that we had put on that woman." Kisame said.

Jiraiya set the black haired girl onto the floor after he and Itachi glared at each other. "You shouldn't call yourself a man for using such a cowardly tactic like casting a genjutsu on the woman with your hypnotic eyes to separate me and Naruto." Jiraiya stood. "Your target is Naruto, after all!" Naruto and Sasuke were shocked to hear the news.

"No wonder Kakashi knew that as well… I see clearly now. The information source was you. To abduct Naruto is the number one priority place by our organization, Akatsuki." Naruto stumbled back frightened by Itachi's calm words.

The toad blocking Kisame from Naruto disappeared. Jiraiya had a hard glare set into his eyes. "I can't let you have Naruto…" He said.

"I wonder about that." Itachi replied.

Jiraiya straightened his back. "This is perfect. I'll get rid of you two right here!"

"Don't butt in!" Sasuke's gruff voice ordered shocking both Naruto and Jiraiya by its defiant tone. Sasuke began his struggle of getting to his feet. He was swaying badly and still in heavy pain. "The one that's going to kill him is me!" He panted hard but had a hateful glare in his eyes.

Both Akatsuki members gazed back onto the boy. "Right now, I have no interest in you…" Itachi stated, shooing him away like they were children once more.

It angered Sasuke that he would use that condescending tone on him again. His hand curled into a rock hard fist. "Don't mess with me!" He shouted, his eyes hard and hateful. Itachi spent no effort in giving him a kick into his stomach before he could land the hit on him. Sasuke went flying and he hit the wall across from him with so much force that nearly made him seemed as light as a ball. He slid down from the wall to the floor, unable to move once more, in pain again.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted worried. Sasuke was started to fall over, unable to support himself. "Damn you!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto! I told you not to butt in!" Sasuke looked up shouting at his comrade. Sasuke began a new struggle to get back up. "I told you before… I've lived only for this very day… for this very day!" He looked at Itachi sharingan again found its way into his eyes as they swirled with black tomoe on a bright red background. He went to punch Itachi again and much like the first this one ended in failure. Itachi effortlessly blocked him and punched him sending him playing to the wall from before. Sasuke's whole body bounced off of it as his back took most of the damage and blood from the impact flew out of his mouth. That should have been the indication for Sasuke to stop but of course he struggled to move his wrist that was snapped that that swelled up badly. "Not yet…" He whispered.

"You can't even make a hand sign together at this point." Itachi said. _So stop, go home and end this. You are not ready at all._

"This is my battle!" Sasuke snapped, destroying Itachi's notion of ending the pesky fight.

"Fine." Itachi said and glared at the boy. Jiraiya stepped forward to end this, knowing if too much was done Sasuke could die, but Kisame stood in his way, insuring that Itachi had all the time and all the space for his fight. Honestly it would be more like a beating. Sasuke had miles to go before he caught up with Itachi's strength anyone could see that, this whole fight was simply unfair and unjust.

Kisame raised his sword to Jiraiya. "You heard that didn't you? This is their battle. Let's not bother with it."

Itachi walked to the boy and stood over him as he tried to recover a little bit bloodstains on both sides of his mouth. Sasuke looked up as Itachi simply waited for something. "Fine then!" He shouted at tried to attack Itachi once more, only to fail once more. He kneed Sasuke in the stomach. _Because you're too weak._ As Sasuke's body fell forward from the force Itachi elbowed him into his neck and kneed him again in the stomach the body flew up. The blows kept going until he landed onto the wall with a punch. Sasuke's body was severely damaged.

_Did you honestly think that this little power you gained changed anything? You still haven't gotten strong yet. You still don't hate me enough for what I've done. I am not your brother anymore. I am a killed the man who slaughtered your family. Your mother, your father, even your brother. Why do you still look at me and think brother! I am not that person. Can't you see that person died years ago? I will no longer poke your forehead, there will no longer be a next time, and there won't be any nonsense laughter and more importantly… I won't be by your side. _But you are still the barrier he must always overcome._ That… I still am._

Sasuke fell onto the floor blood dripping out of his mouth. Itachi looked at his weak form, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up against the wall. He dragged him up so they were at eye level. "You are weak." He said, "And you are weak because you don't have enough hate." Itachi whispered into his ear just as he did to Kaeda the next of the massacre. A gentle yet cold whisper and not allowed to see his eyes to hide his true emotions. Sasuke watched his eyes open before he realized that he was using tsukuyomi. He was trapped into the nightmarish world of five years ago. While he was screaming in the hell his mind was trapped in, his physical body let out the same wail of agony. Sasuke's eyes glazed over as he passed.

Kaeda had just finished running up the stairs. She appeared besides, Itachi and Sasuke. She lifted her hand and rested it on Itachi's wrist. Both of them nearly jumped away at the physical contact. "Please let him go." She whispered her eyes locked with the ground and Itachi's gaze snapped to her. Naruto dashed forward to stop them and Kisame went after him.

Before things could get nasty Jiraiya used a jutsu to turn all the surfaces of the area into muscle, more notable it was the same muscles as inside a toad's mouth. Everyone force where they were and looked back at the old man. The walls began to suck Sasuke in. Kaeda gasped and moved Itachi's hand out of the way and pulled Sasuke out and let the boy fall into her, she herself nearly fell back into Itachi with Sasuke's weight. Kisame looked down and noticed the that floor was starting to wrap around their feet. "How unfortunate, Itachi, Kisame. You guys are already inside my stomach! I summoned the esophagus of the giant toad of the Mountain Myomaku rock cave. You guys are wanted criminals anyway. I'll turn you guys into fodder for the stone toad. Kisame and Itachi looked pissed. "Naruto, Kaeda, you two stay still!" They both looked at him. "Don't worry it's my jutsu."

Kaeda stepped back still holding Sasuke in her arms. She glared at Itachi. She set him down on his feet. "Hey Sasuke, wake up." She said and shook him a bit. She noticed that he had been mentally tormented; she pulled him back into a hug and held him there. She looked down at the boy worried and pulled him back into her arms eyeing the rogue shiniobi carefully.

Naruto pointed accusingly at her. "Where the hell were you? For a jonin you sure as hell weren't fast in finding us." Kaeda hung her head, even though she had asked him to say it, it still stung deep.

"Kisame come here." Itachi said. His voice made Kaeda flinch back with Sasuke still in her arms. She wanted to keep him away and hide him away from this man. Kisame broke free and rushed towards Itachi and it only made Kaeda back off even more.

"It's useless!" Jiraiya shouted. "There hasn't been one person who has been able to escape from this!" He said with a bright smirk on his face. The men started running through the halls only to find the flesh and muscle were moving coming for him. Jiraiya, Naruto and Kaeda stood for a moment waiting to hear them being captured instead a rumble was heard. Kaeda gasped. She handed Sasuke over to Naruto and dashed off. "Kaeda, don't go near them!" Jiraiya said. Jiraiya followed her and turns the corner to see her stopped at the edge were black flames was burning it. "Kaeda, come back. Don't pursue them those flames are deadly."

She looked out into the distance where they had gone. Some miles away Itachi and Kisame landed on the water and continued their flight. "Why must we retreat? You would be…"

Itachi was sweating and looked tired. "We have no reason to rush to get Naruto in the current condition. Besides, I have to rest my body somewhere for a while." _And fix Kaeda's mistake. Jiraiya… Not just Tsukuyomi but he also made me use Amaterasu as well._ The sharingan faded from his eyes and only black onyx was left.

Jiraiya sealed up the black flames. Guy showed up and after answering Naruto's questions, Guy and Kaeda left with Sasuke in arms. They took him straight to Konaha and Kaeda immediately got the best doctor that she knew to examine him. The man sighed. "His body is healed, the mental damage I cannot undo." Kaeda touched Sasuke's head and bit her bottom lip. "You should get some rest. It won't do anything if you sit over there and wait for him to heal. Kakashi is enduring the same thing, you know that. They will both be fine. Lady Tsunade will be coming to the village right. You just sit tight and she will come here and heal them." The man said.

Kaeda looked at him and nodded. "Right." She whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: In the Shop

_A bright and sunny Sunday afternoon in Konaha was warm and joyous as usual. Most were dressed in casual clothes and Kaeda was no exception, except she was busy fixing her new home. She was dressed in a white tee shirt and brown capris and the usual black sandals. Her hair was pulled up in a tight yet messy bun. It had become messy from all the work she had been doing around the house as the young boy she was guarding slept peacefully in the largest bedroom in the apartment. "There we go." Kaeda said, setting the last photo on the wall of her room. It was the team going in rank order. She stepped back with a smile. "Hello everyone." She said to the picture and then stepped away to admire it. It was a wall of photos that she had set in her room, all the precious memories with all her precious people. Even a new photo that she had taken with just her and Sasuke was there. Even in her small room she insured that everyone had a big role. _

_Stepping forward she touched the picture of the ANBU team. Her warm face was ruined by a cold frown. Her graze turned towards the floor. Yohei died first, it was on a mission, he was blown apart by an explosive tag on a kunai. He faded from the picture. Isako died next, she was hurt by a poison Kaeda had never seen and by the time the team got her to a suitable doctor, she died. She was the next to fade from their smiling picture. Soon, I was facing slightly away from them I had already been trapped into the idea of what would befall my family and the thoughts of what was happening to my team… well, it was all overwhelming. Kaeda's heart had been beaten from this emotional torment, and Taiyo could not let these deaths of the comrades just pass over his head. A few days after Isako's death, Taiyo died too, he saved Kaeda from death that evidently led him to his. This was just as bad as war. And here we were the two of us alone in a picture, as sorrowful as we could be, but this is only a picture even if our emotions have changed we will be forever with the dead and bright smiles. Even if one of us is wearing a different uniform and has our back turned to the frame, even if one of has cut their hair and dropped many ranks. _

_How cruel. I don't blame her for needing this. We were all happy, we did well together while we lasted. This action is simply a moment of clinging onto good memories, a simple and human thing to do. _

_Kaeda went to the living room and examined everything with a victorious smile returning and illuminating her face once more. Her new home was fully ready and asking to make new memories in it and live in it. With the positive thoughts making her steps light she stepped into the kitchen and smiled at the bright white tulips at the table and started making tea for the morning. Her ears perched up at the sound of footsteps sliding across the floor. Kaeda turned and watched as Sasuke stumbled into the kitchen, tired from being out late at night training. Kaeda giggled as she watched him go to the fridge, pour himself a glass of orange juice and a small bowl of cereal. _

"_Do you want me to make you a bigger breakfast?" She asked. _

"_Going to sleep." He mumbled, barely speaking to her. He rubbed the back of his messy raven hair, as he tried to slide back to his room in his shorts and tee-shirt that he used as pajamas, but Kaeda swore that those were the clothes he was training in the other day. It only made it evident that he came home and fell on the bed and fell asleep disregarding anything else of the night. That's why he was eating. He had not eaten dinner at all._

"_It'd be better if you drink a glass of water and went to the bathroom." She suggested. Lightning fast, he glared heavily at her before continuing his way. Kaeda was taken back suddenly on edge from that glare. She wondered if what she said insulted him in any way. She had no idea that those words were simply a painful remind of me. As the minutes ticked by the thought of Sasuke being mad at her started taking over her consciousness. She felt horrible about insulting the boy she was meant to protect. _

_She paced the kitchen before she stormed into Sasuke's room making him jump out of his bed. He sat up and looked at her, confused. "What do you want?" He asked, coldly._

"_Did I insult you?!" She asked, clear worry in her face and voice. _

_Sasuke took a moment to examine her before scoffing a little bit. "No, stupid. How the hell did you even become an ANBU you let yourself be so visibly emotional? It's obnoxious." He said before grumbling and letting himself fall into the bed and pull the covers over his head. Kaeda was taken back for a moment before laughing as she stood in his doorway._

* * *

Kaeda set her house keys onto a small table beside the door. Her hands felt numb, like everything she was doing was being caused by a puppeteer. Every movement and every breath was against her will. Kaeda felt the need to pull her own dark brown hair out. She had no desire to be in this house. She knew where she was suppose to be and it was suppose to be next to the boy with obsidian hair and eyes. She was suppose to be beside him and singing to him about great battles and heroes even at his age. But why? Why those songs? Songs they sang to children to motivate them to become the best shinobi possible, they were songs for children.

To her eyes, Sasuke was a child. No, not exactly, in better terms he was a teenager than never really learned what it meant to be a child. He grew up too fast and all too soon he found himself with the mentality and drive as a teenager before overcoming the mentality and earning the stability that came with going through childhood. Kaeda wanted more than anything to provide that to Sasuke. It didn't matter to her that her early years where in shambles too, it mattered to her was that Sasuke was like family. She was still part of the team and teammates looked out for each other. Even the dead ones. Even the traitorous ones. Sasuke was Itachi's little brother. But, Kaeda remembered and knew every well that Sasuke was more than just a brother. Sasuke was Itachi's whole world, his sun, his moon, his stars, his light and his darkness. If she could protect the very last thing left in her team she would do so.

She had to.

Sasuke's room was the first one she checked. She smoothed out wrinkles on his nearly perfect bed. She looked around for any imperfections she knew she wouldn't find but looked for them anyway. "Jeez, as if it would kill him to leave something for me to do once in a while." She muttered under her breath. She left the room and decided to do some laundry since she was in no mood to sleep. She went to the small washing room they had and grabbed a basket full of his laundry. "At least he smells like a teenage boy." She sighed and started separating the clothes by color and fabric.

It was a mindless task but she did it, she did it to refrain herself from thinking about Itachi, that he had come maybe not for Sasuke but it hurt to see him like that. It hurt to see Sasuke fight and it hurt to see Itachi emotionless. A tear spilled from her face. She let go of the shirt she was holding. "Right, some tea will calm me down." She muttered to herself again. Her head was flustered and her feet moved without her recognition. She found herself in the kitchen putting the kettle of water on the fire.

_You seemed so simple doing that, and so open. How obvious it was to anyone passing by that you are the most upset being in the world at the moment… however it's all my fault, its because… I ruined your world in that moment. Just as you had finished painting a black canvas white I came along and splattered black on it again. It's a horrible habit and I am so terribly sorry._

The kettle whistled. Blindly, she reached out the grab the handle but touched the actual kettle. Her hand felt the hot metal burning her palm. She reached back and just as she parted her lips to let out a soft yelp of pain she felt a foreign hand cover her mouth and stop her from making sound. Her back was pressed against the wall behind her, and the first thing she heard was. "Didn't I tell you to not mingle with us any longer?" A calm, mundane voice that was all too familiar told her.

Kaeda eyes snapped open for a moment before shutting them again this time in fear. She knew exactly who was in front of her. Itachi Uchiha was in front of her for the second time today. She kept her eyes closed, she knew better than that. She knew him better than that. Itachi watched her for a long while expecting her to struggle in some way. Other than her hands that were pressed against his wrist there was no attempt to stop him. "Open your eyes." He demanded. The stillness of the room was unbearable. The Akatsuki cloak covered both of them in the darkness of night. Itachi's whole body was calm, every single muscle in perfect zen but ready to fall into action within a moment's notice, Kaeda however was locked up under his touch.

He noticed her attempt to speak. He tilted his head to the side, his black hair falling over his shoulder. The ruby red sharingan with the black tomoe stared down on the former ANBU. His lips in a slight frown became more neutral the longer he looked at her. She wanted to talk, a fool as always was his only logical conclusion. His elegant jaw dropped to release a much held in sigh. "What am I to do with you?" He asked. "You are holding Sasuke back." He watched Kaeda's brows knit together in discontent from that statement. "If I killed you…" One of the hidden kunai in his sleeves was released. He felt the cool metal brush past his skin, but never cutting it. His finger's automatically wrapped comfortably around the kunai's handle. Skillfully, he twirled the kunai so it would be facing Kaeda. He felt her need to suck in a breath as he pressed the kunai against her stomach. _No, Sasuke might… no, he _will_ do something completely irrational._

In a flash, his hand left her mouth and took her throat. Kaeda's eyes opened without much thought to it. _Such déjà vu. _She couldn't breathe. He watched her skin turn different colors until she just stopped fidgeting for air. Itachi released her and she came down tumbling onto him, unconscious once more. He held her again just like he did all those years ago. Except this time, he was not going to set her down onto the floor and leave her there to go on a live her life. _I should have killed you, spared you out of so much misery._ He thought as he hooked his arms under her legs and began to carry her slightly out of the village and taking her away.

Sasuke was not having pleasant dreams. Somewhere in the depths of his mind, his subconscious began to torture him in the only way it knew how to. It was a dream consisting of going person per person , listing their names of the people that were in his clan and listing all of them and knowing that they were dead. His bubbly aunt, his wise uncle, his benevolent mother and his strong father. After a long, long time he reached the end, he reached it but after what seemed like an eternity. Yet, something strange was at the end of this line of the dead. There she was though, in the white as usual and the little white daisy pin perched in her low bun. Kaeda stood before him, her warm smile and comforting gaze turned upon him within the line of the dead. He looked at her and looked beside her and there was Itachi, still the young teen he was, with a bright familiar smile on his face. The face the he recalled as brother, or what he knew as the face of a liar.

Kaeda also was having a similar unpleasant dream. But instead of the Uchiha clan she was standing around a familiar camp fire, listening to familiar laughter and familiar voices. The voices of her teammates and the cool voice of Sasuke. She opened her eyes and watched every single one of them alive and well, her very own captain sitting directly across from the fire. She watched each one of them, one by one disappear. Youhei, Isako, Taiyo and finally Sasuke disappeared leaving only her and Itachi. She watched him wrap the Akatsuki cloak around him and stand up before her. "Stop it." She begged him within her dreams. "Can't you just stop this all?" He turned and began to leave. "Stop…"

"_Stop!_" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her whole body jumped up. She looked around and found her in a large empty room. She stood up. "Where am I?" She questioned, and noticed her hair was fizzed, most likely from being in a humid environment.

"You are in the base of Akatsuki." Itachi's bland voice stated. Kaeda turned to the direction of the sound and looked up seeing a ledge and very high ceilings. Itachi was perched there like a bird, looking down at her like she was a tasty little rat made for pray for a nocturnal animal. Perhaps that's what he thought she was, pray. He certainly could be. The high S-ranked criminal in the strongest criminal organization was simply looking down at a simple ex-ANBU, the current jonin. The chase would be fun and yet utterly unnecessary. In this world, the game of cat and mouse was played too often; it would serve no purpose to be playing it again… or at least in Itachi's logic it had no purpose.

The brunette looked up at the man. "You have me unbounded and in a large empty room. Itachi, I think your intelligence is losing its touch." Kaeda told him, flatly.

A small entertained smirked brushed over his lips. "You know better than that." _Stupid._ He thought. He watched her shuffle uncomfortably, knowing that she was confused about what was going on or more importantly, what was wrong with the picture. "You will stay here until I decide what to do with you." Her gaze turned back to him, and he suddenly became the center of attention once more. "Returning you is no longer an option, killing you would cause a mess."

"Chain me up and work me like a dog if I can't go home." She whispered under her breath. Itachi cocked an eyebrow as if daring her to repeat herself. She bashfully looked away. "Stupid captain." She said before she could think about it. Itachi perched his eyebrow up again and shook his head.

"You haven't changed. You too are weak." He told her.

Kaeda snapped her gaze up at him. "Don't you dare!" She snapped. "Don't you dare say something like that to my face after what you did to Sasuke! Don't you dare!" She wanted to punch him, get that calm expression off of his face.

"Did I strike a nerve?" He asked and Kaeda quickly composed herself. "Or perhaps is it your instinct to protect something that isn't yours." Kaeda was insulted and it was obvious by the way her eyes narrowed. "You were in Sasuke's way, Kaeda. In my way. Everything won't be able to roll properly with you." She disappeared in front of him but the sharingan warned him of her next location and lifted his hand to block her punch as she reappeared in front of him.

Before she could process it, with a speed she was unaccustomed to Kaeda found herself pinned to the ground below them, Itachi kneeling above her, his hand pressed against her throat once more. Her hands, quickly reached up and grasped his wrist again. _"Itachi… Itachi…"_ The crying sound rang into his ear as he looked down at her harden face. _"Itachi, please." The tears rolled uncontrollably down her face. I took her by her shoulder and yanked her away from the corpse of your teammate. "No, no! Stop, stop!" She begged me, struggling against me, but as soon as she was close to me she gripped onto me. Her arms wrapped around my neck, sobbing against me. This five man squad has gone down to two._

Itachi was brought back to the present by something wet. She was crying. He made no reaction. He could but he shouldn't. He watched her cry for a little while before she spoke. "Kill me, please if I can't go back just kill me." She let go of his hand, she knew being pinned under his hand in this manner would get her nowhere. She looked up at him waiting for something, anything. But instead, nothing he stood perfectly… a statue of a man, but of a faceless man. She waited for him to say something or do something, this faceless man. She shook her head at the blank expression. She disappeared before Itachi could grab her again. He stood straight and turned around to observe her as she stood a good twenty feet away from him.

If they were still how they where she would have questioned him on the graying tone in his eyes, why he didn't speak. Why the genius Uchiha had let her go so easily. He definitely had not slowed down over the years; her on the other hand, yes she had. She had lost most of her amazing capabilities and drive that had pushed her through the ranks as a kid. Her jaw locked, angry with his emotionless expression. Yet, she knew she had no one to blame but herself, she was the one overly emotional and she knew it. She had the choice in this moment to stop what she was doing and surrender. Instead of doing the most logical thing, she did the most illogical and lost all control of her emotions.

The sharingan had traced her movements due to her lack of speed. This information enabled him to effectively block the punch of the sentinel. He pushed her off and she went back the twenty feet she came from. With a burst of speed they had both left their standing points. They clashed kunai and shuriken, moved with the fluency that had they had been trained with for all their lives. The top of Konaha's shinobi, the finest and the strongest and that's what they knew of alone when fighting. After a while there was a moment of pausing simply circling each other. Itachi's eyes were on her fully, but Kaeda was concentrating on anything but his face. _Smart move._ She had no idea how far he had progressed those damned eyes of his, but something else was obvious. _She's exhaust of fighting._ Yet, so was he.

_Why did I do this? Was it simply a whim? Perhaps. But here she is now and I can't do anything about it. It's simply up to-_… his thoughts interrupted by the flash of kunai coming dangerously close to his face but with such elegancy that he dodged it almost seemed that he did it on purpose, and it gave him opportunity for a counterattack. He let his body's weight drag him back and used his legs to knock her feet right from under her. While Kaeda fell, Itachi landed on his hands and used them to launch his body onto a back flip and landed on his feet. Kaeda not so elegantly crashed down to the ground. She groaned at the sensation of a forming bruise. He looked down at her and allowed her to raise herself back to her feet, but her hair was falling out of the bun she had. _Her hair… a dark and long haired brunette. _Short. Why did it only reach her shoulders? Women, silly and emotional as ever. _She's in just as much pain and hurt as Sasuke._ Silly dead man why do you insist on raising from the grave.

"You are fighting with depleted chakra." Itachi stated, observing her weakened form from the little bit of fighting.

Kaeda let her head fall. "So?" She asked, "What do you think that it's stupid?" A tear began to form in her eye and fell without her control. "If you die here, Sasuke won't have to come after you, he'll have what he wants; you dead." She said, prattling about intangible and unfathomable things. It was obvious that she was crying.

"Stop protecting Sasuke." He stated with that calm voice that had become annoying to Kaeda at this point.

"Why?!" She shouted, looking up at him. "You aren't!" She looked to the side her bangs falling into her face. "You left him, you hurt him." He stepped closer to her since her guard was completely down. Once she felt his presence, she jumped back but by that time, Itachi had his hand there and grasped her hair, fisting it. The Akatsuki cloak waved in the light breeze in the room. Kaeda locked her jaw again and shut her eyes. Kaeda began to struggle again when he grasped her neck and began to press against her main artery, cutting off her blood circulation. Kaeda's eyes widened in horror, now convinced that she was going to be killed by him. After a few moments of struggling she fell unconscious again and Itachi quickly removed his hand. Any longer and it could have killed her.

Their fight meant nothing, it only showed that he had excelled and she had remained exactly here she was when he left. That and … _she still trusts me enough to let me get that close to get her neck._ He shook his head and picked her up bridal style. "Moving, simply moving." A childish voice said on the verge of tears. Itachi looked up at the orange masked man. He jumped down to the ground in front of the Uchiha. "She's a pretty pretty thing." The man said and circled Itachi, who glared at the stranger with sharingan. "I am surprised with you, Itachi." The childish voice suddenly became deep and gruff. "I thought you killed her a while ago."

* * *

Iruka climbed the stairs of the apartment that Kaeda and Sasuke lived in. He was following up in a report that Kaeda had left the house but she had left the kettle on the fire, triggering the smoke alarm. He found the landlady standing at the door of Kaeda's apartment. The old lady eyed him, "Are you the shinobi sent here?" She asked in a high pitched yet raspy voice. Iruka nodded. "I tell you, Kaeda is losing her mind. She's always getting into accidents. Oops this and oops that. I am shocked she hasn't burned down this building yet, or something."

The chuunin sighed. "I am sure she doesn't do it on purpose." Iruka said trying to be pleasant as he watched the old lady shuffle through her pocket.

"And another thing, she hasn't come back at all in the past two days." This made Iruka frown his brows and tilt his head a little bit to the side.

"What do you mean?" The door to the girl's apartment swung open. Everything seemed too much intact but the house seemed eerily quiet. Iruka rushed in not liking the sense of this at all. He saw that the kettle that had been blackened from being on the fire for too long, but didn't stay there long. He moved and saw the laundry room open and saw the unfinished laundry. This worried him, more so that Kaeda would never up and leave something unfinished. He felt the worry in his chest, could have something possibly happened to her?

The last room left to check was her bedroom. He stepped in there and opened the room. Everything seemed in place. He stepped inside, noticed the box just outside her closet doors. He stepped there and opened it up. It was her old ANBU things. The mask was the first thing in the box. Iruka took it out of the box and examined it as if the porcelain would give him some clues, but it wasn't the mask. Beneath the mask was something more revealing, it was the flower pin she always wore in her hair.

He held the pin in his hand and set the mask aside. Iruka knew he needed help and it would have to be someone closer to her than anyone they knew. He grasped the pin and brought it close to his forehead. "Naruto, Jiraiya, please bring Lady Tsunade here soon. Another person could be in danger." He whispered a prayer aloud.

* * *

Pein turned towards the masked man as he finished explaining the presence of the new guest. "I hope you don't mind, he's still young." The deep voice said. Konan looked at the orange haired man who stared back at Tobi. It took the leader a moment to formulate an answer, enough time for the thunder and lightning in the sky to get closer and closer to them and the tears of the sky to become heavier. His rings of eyes turned towards the rain.

Such a heavy atmosphere and the never ending rain was something most people were so used to. "A few more tears change nothing in this sort of rain." The young leader finally answered. Konan looked back, silently, at the orange masked man who simply chuckled. Tobi shrugged at his response.

"I will take care of it if anything should get out of hand." Tobi smiled. "Especially with Itachi."

_Wake up, Sasuke._


End file.
